Spartanburg, SC – Spartanburg Methodist College welcomes the Greenville Chamber Singers to the Gibbs Auditorium in Ellis Hall on Monday November 25th at 7:00 p.m. “O Great Mystery” is the theme for the Christmas concert. Admission is free of charge and the public is invited.

Familiar favorites (with some fun twists!) as well as new music will be performed by the women’s chorus to put everyone in the Christmas mood. The Greenville Chamber Singers, an auditioned women’s ensemble formed in 1996, share an exuberant love for choral music and a strong commitment to ongoing growth as performers. Members’ previous experiences include high school and college choruses, church choirs, and other community musical groups. Traveling and performing in the Southeast, The Greenville Chamber Singers is a musically versatile ensemble that focuses on community service. The group is under the direction of Angela Lemere who also serves as district choral coordinator at Dorman High School.

Spartanburg, SC – Liz Patterson, a Spartanburg Methodist College Board of Trustee member, was awarded the Lee S. Poole Advocacy and Service Award by the Charles Lea Center on Thursday morning, October 31st, at the Annual Meeting of the Charles Lea Center.

Lee Sterling Poole, son of Lynne and John Poole, was born prematurely and was not expected to survive. However, Lee did live and grew into a wonderful young man before passing away at the age of 27 in 2009. His cheerful spirit conveyed an energy that was contagious and Lee represented all that is good and caring about our community. His life was not only a testimonial, but a reminder, that regardless of your situation in life, everyone deserves the opportunity to reach their potential and enjoy life to the fullest.

The Lee S. Poole Advocacy and Service Award was established in 2010 by the Charles Lea Center to honor and recognize the commitment of an individual who has worked to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities in Spartanburg County. Patterson was honored to receive such a recognition and accepted it on behalf of and in memory of her brother “Bubba.”

The first and only woman to represent the 4th Congressional District, Elizabeth Johnston “Liz” Patterson’s career personifies service: from her early work as a recruiting officer for the Peace Corps and VISTA, as the SC Director of Head Start, to serving as staff assistant for Representative James R. Mann to her elected offices of Spartanburg County Council, the S.C. Senate and the House of Representatives.

While in office, she served on the House Committees on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs, Veterans Affairs and the Select Committee on Hunger. After leaving office, Patterson oversaw the creation of the Professional Legal Assistant (PLA) Program at Converse College in 1997 and served as Director of the program until her retirement.

Her father, Olin D. Johnston, a member of the very first SMC graduating class, served as Governor of South Carolina and as U.S. Senator from South Carolina. Patterson was voted onto the SMC Board of Trustees and has served consecutively since 2004. She was instrumental in moving Converse College’s PLA program to SMC, where it was been housed since August of 2004 and rebranded as SMC’s Paralegal Certificate Program.

In addition to serving on the SMC Board of Trustees, Patterson serves on the SMC Paralegal Advisory Committee and is an active member of the Central United Methodist Church, Business & Professional Women (BPW), League of Women Voters, Rotary Club, the Church Council, Charles Lea Center & Charles Lea Center Foundation, and is an Independent College & University Life Member. Patterson holds honorary degrees from Wofford, Converse, and Columbia College and has been awarded various awards such as Kiwanis Citizen of the Year and Citizen of the Year – Spartanburg Board of Realtors.

Patterson, born in Columbia, SC, holds a B.A. from Columbia College of South Carolina and a M.A. from the University of South Carolina. Patterson is married to Dwight Patterson, and they have three children, Dwight III, Olin and Catherine Gramling.

Spartanburg Methodist College and Sherman College of Chiropractic in Spartanburg, SC, recently updated a transfer agreement to simplify student admission into the doctor of chiropractic program at Sherman College.

“This is a highly attractive option for Spartanburg Methodist College students looking for a cost-effective and timely path to enrollment at Sherman College and to their futures as doctors of chiropractic,” says Sherman Vice President for Enrollment Services Kelley Jones Ashcraft, who worked closely with SMC to develop the program. “It makes perfect sense for SMC and Sherman to align our programs to provide more opportunities for our College Town students.” Chiropractic, Ashcraft says, is an in-demand health care career that allows graduates to bring natural wellness care to their communities while making a difference in the lives of others.

“SMC enrolls many students each year who indicate an interest in various careers in the health sciences, including chiropractic,” says Dr. Colleen Keith, President of Spartanburg Methodist College. “Having an agreement like this one in place with Sherman College makes it so that students can clearly see how they can reach their career goal in a timely fashion and go on to a career that plays a significant role in health promotion, as well as injury and disease prevention. This agreement provides a significant opportunity for our students.”

Under the agreement, Sherman College guarantees admission to students from SMC who meet the following provisions:

Students must have successfully completed the courses required in the Associate in Science pre-chiropractic curriculum.

Students must have met the minimum grade requirement of “C” in all required courses.

Students must have earned a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 on a scale of 4.0 in the 90 semester hour requirement for admission to Sherman College.

Students may be granted tentative acceptance upon completion of a minimum of 45 semester hours of credit with full approval granted upon receipt of the final transcript.

Sherman College continually works to establish articulation agreements and pre-chiropractic programs with undergraduate institutions across the nation to facilitate admission to its doctor of chiropractic program. For more information on such agreements, contact the Sherman College Admission Office or call 800-849-8771, ext, 222, email kashcraft@sherman.edu or go to http://www.sherman.edu/future-students/3-plus-1-agreements.asp.

About Sherman College of Chiropractic

Sherman College of Chiropractic provides students with a comprehensive chiropractic education, preparing them to enter the field as doctors of chiropractic who are highly skilled, compassionate, ethical and successful. On its 80-acre campus in South Carolina, Sherman offers a first professional degree program unique in its approach to health care and known globally for the skill and art of chiropractic delivered by graduates. For more information, visit www.sherman.edu or call 800-849-8771.

About Spartanburg Methodist College

SMC is South Carolina’s only private, residential college exclusively for freshmen and sophomore students and one of only four colleges in South Carolina affiliated with the United Methodist Church. SMC’s mission is to transform lives in a values-oriented, student-centered atmosphere in the Christian tradition that encourages academic excellence, intellectual exploration, social awareness, and character development within the liberal arts tradition. Spartanburg Methodist College, founded in 1911, is proud of its heritage of providing “the opportunity to be your best and the inspiration to do great things.”

It’s that wonderful time of the year again—that time when we collect shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. Beginning Monday, faculty, staff and students will be able to pick up boxes from the Chapel or the Counseling Center and they will need to be returned no later than 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, November 20.

In years past several faculty members have offered extra credit for students who bring in boxes. If a faculty members choose to do so again this year, please keep track of the names of the students who bring in boxes and send them to Candice Y. Sloan, Chaplain, so that she can add their names to the Service Challenge.

The class, group, organization, team , etc. that collects the most shoe boxes (on a percentage basis) wins a pizza party.